


working it out

by Lady_of_the_Flowers



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, Zukka Week 2k18, only four months late!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 09:50:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14210490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Flowers/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Flowers
Summary: Zuko watches Sokka fight.





	working it out

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys i'm ashamed to say i actually wrote this in time for zukka week & then got so busy i didn't have time to post it but here ya go! the prompt was Swords

It was incredible, Zuko thought on a regular basis, that someone who seemed so careless literally every time he opened his mouth could be so careful when it came to this - a sword, dark silver and lustrous, the handle wrapped with well-worn leather. The thought had occurred again to him today, perched on a boulder watching Sokka dart and weave between the trees below, his shoulders shining in the late-afternoon sun as he battled invisible foes, his stances...acceptable, if not particularly graceful.

Not that Zuko was going to say anything about that. It was clear in this, as in so many things, that Sokka was largely self-taught. And even though Zuko didn’t know him very well yet, he could sense there was an easily-wounded pride running not too deep beneath the surface of Sokka’s obnoxious self-confidence. How much, exactly, of the bluster and the bad jokes was fake, Zuko wasn’t sure. But he knew for certain that this, at least, was genuine: the way Sokka inspected the blade for nicks and scratches, testing the edge for sharpness, polishing it to get his own fingerprints off, before sliding it back into its sheath. 

Zuko climbed off the boulder, intersecting Sokka’s path back towards the trail.  

“You practice alone a lot,” Zuko said, and Sokka startled, even though he’d known Zuko was watching him. Maybe he just wasn’t ready to get out of his own head yet. 

“Yeah,” Sokka shrugged, giving Zuko an uneasy side-glance, like he didn’t know how to look him in the eye anymore, even though he’d never had that problem before Zuko joined their group.   __

“I was just thinking - maybe you should practice with someone else?” Zuko hated how his voice turned it into a question, “I mean. In battle, you’ll be fighting against real people, and -” 

“No shit, Genius,” Sokka said, and Zuko could hear him rolling his eyes, “Never thought of  _ that  _ before.” 

“Hey, I was just -” Zuko started, defensive. 

“Unless you’re offering, I don’t wanna hear it,” Sokka said, and he sounded abruptly tired and frustrated, pebbles skidding out from under his boots as they followed the trail uphill,“I already know I’m not up to speed for the invasion, okay, I don’t need you to tell me that.” 

Zuko  _ was  _ offering, was the thing. He had his dual swords with him, tucked away in his solitary room, and he’d be interested to see what it was like, sparring against a straight sword. Sparring with  _ Sokka,  _ now that all of Zuko’s focus wasn’t directed elsewhere. He’d been watching, lately - trying to learn more about the other members of the team besides Katara and the Avatar. Trying to make amends. 

“I just figured it might be easier, you know. To spar with someone you don’t like very much. I figured it might be better practice,” Zuko said. Sokka gave him another wary, side-long look, and then he laughed. 

“It  _ would  _ be pretty satisfying to kick your butt,” Sokka admitted, and Zuko found himself smiling back, relieved.

A few days later, Zuko left Aang to complete a grueling set of exercises under Katara’s watchful eye, and went back to his room at the end of a dusty, little-used hallway. It was - nice, he supposed. Quiet. He should be more grateful. In the morning, his windows caught the first rays of light from the rising sun and in the evening, he was far enough away from the others that he couldn’t hear them talking long into the night. Even though he knew they were, just as he knew he wasn’t welcome to join in. 

Zuko knelt by his bed and pulled out the cloth-wrapped bundle he’d brought with him - pretty much the only belongings he had left in the whole world. Inside were a few changes of clothing, a scroll, and, most importantly, his dual swords. Anticipation prickled through him. 

Sokka had dropped by firebending practice a little while earlier, shouting out unhelpful comments, as usual, and generally making a nuisance of himself until Zuko snapped and told him to get lost. Then he’d pushed himself to his feet, brushing past Zuko as he walked away with a murmured, “Meet me in the practice area when you get a chance.” 

It had taken all of Zuko’s self-restraint not to go grab his swords right then and there. 

He didn’t know when he’d gotten so fixated. Sparring practice with Sokka should, by rights, be at the bottom of his list of priorities. Other items nearer the top, like getting Katara to stop making death threats against him, were much more pressing. But the hours he spent down in the ravine, watching Sokka chop through saplings with quick, precise strokes, were… soothing. Pretty much the only time in the day when he didn’t have to try so hard, when he could relax. 

With his swords strapped to his back, Zuko picked his way down the steep, rocky trail to the bottom of the ravine - not too far from his original campsite. Sokka was there, already, shirtless and working up a sweat doing a series of pull-ups from a branch. He dropped to the ground when he saw Zuko approach and wiped his face off on his bare shoulder, leaving behind a gleaming streak. 

“Took you long enough,” Sokka said, and Zuko shifted, a little nervously, from foot to foot, “Ready to get started?” 

“Yeah,” Zuko said, unsheathing his dual swords, brandishing them so they caught the light, “Let’s do this.” 

They sparred for ages, learning how to adapt their styles to each other - dodging and weaving and clambering over boulders until Zuko had to stop and strip out of his tunic, too. Sokka had a scrape on his arm, welling slightly with blood, but he was grinning and breathing hard and Zuko thought, unexpectedly -  _ I’m having fun. I’m having fun with him.  _

“Again,” Zuko said, and Sokka leaped forward with his dark, glossy sword, executing a weird but surprisingly effective little twist which sent Zuko tumbling to the ground, dual swords knocked out of his grip. He scrambled up to his feet, but it was too late - Sokka was tackling him, gleeful, his laughter loud in Zuko’s ear. 

“Got you now!” Sokka proclaimed, and Zuko growled, flipping them, pinning Sokka underneath him. 

“Not sure this still counts as sparring practice,” Zuko said, as Sokka wiggled and bucked, trying to get away. 

“Street-fighting style,” Sokka said, cockily, “Or don’t they teach you to play dirty in the Fire Nation?” 

“Oh, they taught me to play dirty all right,” Zuko said, taking it as a challenge to grind Sokka’s wrists into the dirt while Sokka laughed up at him with bright blue eyes. And maybe it was that, or the things they’d been saying, but the wires must have got mixed up in Zuko’s brain somehow, because he started to feel warm all over, warm and tingly and  _ so good.  _ And then he stopped, realization spreading through him like a chill. 

“Um,” Sokka said. His cheeks were very bright. 

“Don’t say anything,” Zuko said tightly, “I’m just gonna -” He moved to roll away, but Sokka’s arms came around his waist and pulled him back. 

“What are you doing?” Zuko asked, voice rough. The whole weight of his body was pressed against Sokka’s, and he knew Sokka could probably feel...everything. The thought was thrilling and terrifying all at once. 

“Just - trying something out,” Sokka said, all casual, and his hands slid slightly lower, settling on Zuko’s hips. 

For a wild moment, Zuko considered it. But he couldn’t jeopardize his standing in the group on something that would inevitably crash and burn, not while Katara still hated him, and Sokka was one of the only people who would even  _ speak  _ to him, and - 

“Sokka, I can’t,” Zuko said. He rolled off again, and this time Sokka didn’t pull him back, “I - it’s not a good time for me. Not that I don’t want to, because I do, obviously, it’s just -” 

“There’s a lot going on, I know,” Sokka said, sitting up, “I get it.” 

Sokka stood, dusting off his pants, and went to find his shirt, discarded somewhere in the leaves. Zuko watched him from the ground, the warmth fading. He wondered if he’d just managed to ruin whatever chance at friendship there might have been. It was surprising, how disappointed that made him. 

Sokka, of course, was still talking - or maybe he’d started talking again. Either way. 

“ - and that’s why Suki and I broke up, pretty much,” He said, and picked up his sword from where he’d set it earlier, drawing his finger along the edge to inspect it for dullness or nicks. 

“Uh, why was that, again?” Zuko asked, embarrassed. He didn’t want to miss anything Sokka had to say right now, and wasn’t  _ that  _ a change. 

“Well, I mean, the long-distance thing didn’t help,” Sokka said blythly, “But mostly it was because she had all these responsibilities, and I had all these responsibilities, and it just, wasn’t going to work out.” 

“That’s -” 

“And don’t even get me  _ started  _ about my first girlfriend, Yue,” Sokka said, turning around and sheathing his sword, triumphant, like he’d just made some kind of a point, “So, ya know. It’s not a big deal, really. I get it.” 

“You said that already,” Zuko said, mouth moving without his permission. He got the strangest feeling that Sokka was trying to let him off the hook, somehow. Like he didn’t want Zuko to feel guilty for turning him down. 

“Well…” Sokka shrugged, a little helpless, and almost -  _ almost -  _ made eye contact with Zuko before his gaze skittered away back to the ground. So they were back to that, now. Awesome. Then Sokka slung his sword over his back and continued, “We should probably go back up, I guess. I bet Aang’s finished with his firebending practice.” 

“You’re right,” Zuko said, and climbed back to his feet. He found his dual swords lying in a pile of dry leaves and sheathed them, feeling just a bit bad about how little care he took to clean them, compared to Sokka. Then again, he’d never been taught to treat things carefully, safe in the knowledge that he could replace them at any time. 

But Sokka wasn’t like that, he was coming to realize. And, anyway, Sokka’s sword must have been fabulously expensive, something even Zuko’s father might treasure. 

“Where’d you get that, anyway?” He asked, as they started walking back up the trail, “I feel like I’ve seen the lotus design you have on the pommel somewhere…” 

He expected Sokka to name one of the great sword-makers - it could only have come from one of their workshops - but instead Sokka’s shoulders squared a little, and he said with pride, “I made it myself, actually. Out of space rock.” 

“Space rock?” Zuko quickly refocused himself - that wasn’t the important part, “You  _ made  _ it?” 

“Yeah,” Sokka sounded really pleased, “I mean. I had some help, but.” 

“That’s really - wow,” Zuko breathed. He followed Sokka in silence for a moment, taking it in. It shouldn’t have surprised him to know Sokka had hidden talents. He’d already seen flashes of Sokka’s mind at work, his in-the-moment strategies, how intelligently he used the landscape, his sense of humor, and his non-bending to his own advantage. He just hadn’t thought - 

“I know I’m kinda, uh,” Sokka said, and hesitated. They trudged up the narrow trail in silence for a moment before he tried again, “I know I don’t come across as someone who takes things very seriously, but I do. Take things seriously, I mean. When I care about something or, uh, some _ one _ , I’d do anything for them.” 

Zuko could feel his heartbeat ricocheting through his chest, “Are you,” He cleared his throat, “Um.” 

He didn’t even know how to say it without making a fool of himself. It just didn’t make any sense, what Sokka was offering - if he even  _ was  _ offering. 

“Just something to keep in mind, I guess,” Sokka said, casual again. Then he turned around to flash Zuko a quick, brilliant smile, and Zuko felt his face heat at the pleasure and the promise in it. So he hadn’t ruined anything after all. 


End file.
